Today, the Daily News heads out to Corona to visit Tortilleria Nixtamal and get the lowdown on their oh-so-trendy tortillas (the shop supplies restaurants like Empellón, La Esquina, and the Tacombi truck at Fonda Nolita). The secret? “The couple makes their masa using an ancient Aztecan method known as nixtamalization, where the corn is boiled and soaked in calcium hydroxide (the mineral lime) before being ground into dough,” according to the story. What was the inspiration for starting a tortilleria? Owner Shauna Page says her boyfriend, with whom she opened the shop, decided that the thing that made Mexican food so crappy in New York was the tortillas. So, what do you think? Now that Nixtamel’s tortillas are all over the city, has our Mexican food come up to the level of, say, Los Angeles or San Francisco? We say not quite, but as long as Nixtamal doesn’t start fortifying their tortillas with folic acid, we’re happy. [NYDN]
